As was seen on the Falcon 9 launch of 2013 Sep 29—carrying Cassiope,
CUSat 1/2, DANDE/LAB, and POPACS 1, 2, and 3—tracking and cataloging
multiple payloads can be challenging. For those who have the proper equipment
(these objects will likely be too dim to see with the naked eye) and would like
to observe or track the objects associated with this launch, I have created an
STK Viewer file that shows those areas on the Earth's
surface where these objects should be visible for the first 24 hours after
launch.

Figure 1 shows those areas on the Earth's surface where the ORS-3 payloads
should be visible over the first 24 hours after launch (assuming a launch at
0030 UTC).

The orbit for a nominal payload was derived by taking the launch
profile provided on the Orbital
Minotaur I/ORS-3 web page, which is provided as a Google Earth .kmz file
(linked at the bottom of the page), converting the latitude, longitude, and
altitude information into an STK ephemeris (.e) file, and then fitting the last
40 seconds of the trajectory to produce a TLE.
That yields an orbit consistent with the information from the last official ORS-3
press release (494 km x 506 km altitude, 40.5-deg inclination).

Note that the payloads will start to drift apart due to the deployment
sequence and differential drag shortly after launch and deployment. Observers in
the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere will be able to see this launch,
unlike that of the Dnepr launch on 2013 Nov 21.

Figure 1. View of visiblity regions for first 24 hours after launch

Visibility regions (the yellow areas on the globe) were generated using STK
Coverage to show where the nominal orbit should be visible to an observer on the
ground when the object is 10° or more above the horizon, the Sun is more
than 6° below the horizon (civil twilight), and the object is in direct
sunlight.

Figure 2 shows the instantaneous visibility (green area) over South Africa as
this launch makes its first appearance over land in the southern hemisphere. It
is unlikely that any of the payloads will have been deployed by this point in
the mission, so only one object should be visible. The orbit is shown in green
when in sunlight and gray, otherwise.

Figure 2. View of first southern hemisphere visiblity over South Africa

Figure 3 shows the instantaneous visibility over the western US and Canada as
this launch makes its first appearance over land in the northern hemisphere.
Some, if not all, of the payloads should be deployed by this time.

Figure 3. View of first northern hemisphere visiblity over Western US and Canada

If you would like to explore this event in more detail, simply download the
STK Viewer file below. I hope you find this information both informative and
helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. And if you manage
to collect any images of these passes, I would be happy to add them to the
coverage here.

Note: STK Viewer is a free product which allows anyone
with a Windows computer to view an STK (System Tool Kit) scenario. With it,
you can animate a scenario forward or backward, pause the animation, and zoom or
pan the view for a more complete understanding of the event. Just like with
Adobe Acrobat, where the authoring software requires a license but the Adobe
Reader is free, STK can produce STK Viewer files—also known as
VDFs—which can then be viewed by anyone with the free STK Viewer software. You
can find the STK Viewer on CelesTrak here. — TS